D&D 5E Cost To Pay For Resurrection?


log in or register to remove this ad

Well OK then let me put it another way: PC's just found a body of an NPC, who had been betrayed by the same guy who had betrayed the PCs. They feel bad for this other guy who died horribly while being betrayed. They want to resurrect him, potentially as an ally, and they wanted to spend a bunch of gold they just found near that NPC to get that done. And you as DM think it is a fun and smart idea and you wanted to encourage it (but at a cost). What would you do if the PC's went to the local temple with the body and wanted to pay to get the NPC resurrected?

Well, if it's my campaign, the only people who can possibly cast Resurrection/Raise Dead are the PCs, if one of them is a high-level cleric. (Well, I guess a drow matriarch could do it too, or perhaps an ancient gold/red dragon.) That's a feature--it means that cleric PCs get to be important people who can do amazing things which start legends. Even if they've only got a 5th level cleric, at least he can cast "Speak With Dead" and find out how to avenge the guy.

So if the PCs go to the local temple, the priests there probably take their money and offer to pray for the guy's soul and contact his relatives.

Or they can go hunt down an ancient dragon and ask him for a favor, which probably starts an adventure of a different kind.
 
Last edited:

Hmmn...

Or I can just send them to a dinosaur-infested island to retrieve the rare tail feather of some bird needed for the spell...:)

What sort of tail feather? Like from a Phoenix? Or a giant Roc? Dude you got me thinking Giant Parrot for some reason. Like a Phoenix Parrot! A giant burning Toucan Sam!

oh this is epic!
 

As a general rule for paying for spells I use the following method:

Take the level of the caster who is providing the service and compare against the following baseline modifiers - Lvl 1-5 = 10gp, Lvl 6-10 = 20gp, Lvl 11-15 = 40gp, and Lvl 16+ = 80gp.

Take that gold piece value and multiply it by the caster's level. Take that number and multiply it by the spell level. You have a base line cost to what it will take to cast the spell. Don't forget to charge for expensive components - they can increase the cost of course.

*You can always use a quest as payment as well, but I've found that the above method gives some general reference for DMs to employ. Example: Asking a 5th level Sorcerer to cast a fireball at 3rd level would cost 5*10*3 gp = 150gp. Asking a 15th level Wizard to cast the same spell at the same level would cost 15*40*3 = 1800gp (You really are paying for their time and effort ::read hassle:: as much as you are paying for the spell). A DM really dictates what casters there are around. If your major city only has a 7th level Cleric.....well you'll pay the cost for that Cleric's expertise. Feel free to shop around if it is too steep in cost or offer other services in trade. :)
 

In my games the goddess of death is always very jealous of other people using resurrection. To the extent that most other churches will make you get the Raven Queens blessing before any resurrection. She is neither good nor bad, but demands to be respected.

One little quest I use is that the PCs will be required to kill somebody at the Raven Queen's churches say so. The person might not be good, or bad, or innocent or guilty. They will just be some person that should be dead and yet are alive still. A farmer that survived a freak accident that should have killed them, a child that should not have lived through a fever, a criminal that should have been hung that escaped.

Taking on such an agreement shows that the PC values the "weave of fates" and the job that the goddess of death does over their own petty feelings of morality. If they are unwilling to do this, then they do not understand her great work and are unworthy. If they try and negotiate to only execute her will against 'bad guys', then they do not understand her ways at all. She does not judge good or bad, just those that should and should not be, at this fleeting moment in time.
 

Remove ads

Top